About this Guide

Finding the right test, measure, or instrument can take several steps. This guide was designed to help you through these steps by answering some frequently asked questions. If you need more help, please feel free to stop by the O'Neill Library, or send us an e-mail to Kwasi Sarkodie-Mensah (sarkodik@bc.edu) or Kate Silfen (silfen@bc.edu), subject specialists for psychology.

Start Early

Finding tests can be a time consuming process, so it is important that you begin looking for one well before your assignment is due. Also, please note that not all tests are freely available. Make sure that the test that you have identified for your assignment is available to you before you write your paper.

Options for finding a general type of test

There are many options available to you if you are looking for a certain type of test, but do not have a specific test in mind. Here are your key options; these are listed in recommended order.

Steps for finding a specific test by name

If the test you are looking for is in Mental Measurements Yearbook, it is a commercial test that is only available if you purchase it from a company. You may want to look at tests that are more freely available, so please take a look at step 2.

PsycInfo has a feature that allows you to search for tests in the appendix of a journal article. Learn how to do that here. Can't find what you need in PsycInfo? Move to step 4 and take a look at some of our books.